Wild Blue Yonder

An Out-of-Work Gal Considers Her Opportunities

About Me

What began here as an online journal chronicling my progress as I pursued a variety of financial goals has morphed into a blog devoted to the concerns and challenges of the unemployed.

A communicator by profession, I cannot sit on my hands, even while temporarily out of work. What better subject to delve into than one I am personally experiencing, along with 15.4 million other Americans?

Personal finance issues and strategies for stretching a dollar will surely top the list, but I also plan to adopt a more holistic approach by taking on any aspect of the jobless experience that I think will be of interest to readers.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

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“Fiscal fitness” can be a challenge, whether you have a steady paycheck or more erratic income. Maintaining financially sound personal finances requires discipline, stamina for the long run and an unwavering focus on what’s important.

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22 Responses to “My No Heat Date to Beat”

It has been down in the 40's the past several nights, so I am bundled up too. I would love to go the whole month of October without turning it on. I had to put my older dog on a heating pad last night, she was cold.

Just had this discussion this morning with FrugalSon - he's living in the basement. There is no heat or AC down there. He needs to go buy a heater for the coming winter. I don't feel like going with him today to do it, and we looked this morn online to see if our local Walmart had in stock what he wanted - an oil filled radiator looking whatchie. Nope. Have to go to the big-box store in the Metro area which he doesn't drive in. So, will go tomorrow or something but not today, I don't feel like dragging out to go downtown.

Told him to just put on a sweatshirt and some extra socks down there and throw on some more blankets on the bed. He can do it. He's young and tough, and it certainly isn't that cold yet. We've been mid 50's at night - that is about the lowest it's been yet. If the heater he buys doesn't cut it, I told him to invest in one of those super-warm arctic-ready mummy-type sleeping bags.

And, it isn't as bad as it sounds - our central heat & air unit is down there - gas fired. It puts off a bit of heat all on it's ownsome down there. The place actually stays in the high 60's - low 70's degree temp range year round anyway. And YES, safety hounds, we do have a gas-leak detector whatchimicallit installed down there.

Hope you can make it too Fern! Time to drag out the librarian type sweaters & foot-warmies!

Thanks to your blog, I see my heat date to beat is Nov 9. Don't know if I can do that again, especially if my guests from Australia get here by then. Don't know how much chill they can take--probably more than me, though. I've already been wearing my long undies for about a week. It's ridiculous, I know.

I looked for my date - Nov. 23. Last year we had an extremely warm September/October, and it looks to be the same this year. I haven't even turned up my hot water yet. IT's practically set to "vacation" during our hot summers.

Last year I did get better about not turning on the heat just because it "said" 60 degrees, or just to have a warmer morning shower. So I hope to continue with that.

For reference, we are having 80-degree days and 45-degree nights. The house hasn't dropped below 75 since summer.

lux
If you have a Lowes or Home Depot--they both have those heaters. We have one that we can put in the RV if we have to move into the RV during the winter. 2 winters ago we almost did when the electric was out for over a week. But between having a fireplace, wood cookstove and kerosene cookstove, we did fine.

Guess what? I think I'm already out. I turned it on yesterday afternoon. It was 65 degrees in the house all day and just before my daughter arrived home from school it was 64 degrees and temps were to drop significantly overnight. I turned it off again this morning. It really doesn't need to run all day, yet.

I have been thinking about your challenge of last year. Just can't remember when in October I did turn on the furnace, but was surprised as to how early I did it.
It's usually Indian Summer here on Halloween; that follows a severe cold snap. Hopefully, this year will be a later date than last. It really is a good challenge.

I read about you folks in the paper this morning. We keep our thermostat pretty low, but I'm sure the boiler has gone on a number of times already this fall.

I work from home, in the basement. We put in a gas fireplace a couple years ago so it keeps it warm down there during the day. When I go up for lunch or bathroom - brrrr. But I suppose the FP is kind of like cheating.